Apparatus and process for the manufacture of vacuum tube electrodes



June 9, 1931. A. LOPPACKER 1,809,206

APPARATUS AND PRQCESS FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF VACUUM TUBE ELECTRODES 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed May 29, 19

lliilll! WMY anomtoz June 9, 1931.

. A. LOPPACK-ER APPARATUS AND PROCESS FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF VACUUM TUBE ELECTRODES Filed May 29, 1926. 2 Sheets-Shag: 2

' 3 Fig. 3 is an enlarged perspective of certain Patented June 9, 1931 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE ALBERT LOPPACKER, OF BLOOMFIELD, NEW JERSEY, ASSIGNOR, BY DIRECT AND MESN E ASSIGNMENTS TO RADIO CORPORATION OF AMERICA, 0]? NEW YORK, N; Y., A

CORPORATION OF DELAWARE APPARATUS AND PROCESS FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF VACUUM TUBE ELECTRODES Application filed May 29,

This invention aims to provide a method and apparatus for the economical and efiicient manufacture of vacuum tube plates.

The process" includes the steps of carrying the plate material on an endless conveyor v .through heating and cooling chambers in the presence of an atmosphere of hydrogen to remove all traces of deleterious gases. These steps can be performed either before or after the plates-have been punclied from the material. The process-is carried out continuously without manual handling and thus avoids the dangers of. contaminating substances being transferred to the plates 16 from the hands of the operator.

While I have disclosed a preferred embodiment of the invention for purposes of illustration it should be understood that various changes may be made in the structure .20 without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as hereinafter set forth and claimed. I I ,In the drawings: j a I Fig. 1 is an elevation of the apparatus for carrying out the process, certain of the steps being represented diagrammatically Fig. 2 is a longitudinal section through part of the apparatus showing a modified process; I

A parts of the punch press;'

' .Fig. 4 is a perspective of a finished plate.

Referring to Fig. 2 the strip of metal 10 is fed to the press 13 which punches the plates from the strip. The die block 14 has two bolts 15 screwed intoits forward face, a slide 16 being mounted on bolts 15. {Jprings'17 surround the projecting ends of bolts 15 and press'the slide '16 toward the die block. Slide rods 18 are secured to the slide '16, extend slidably through the die block and project at K the rear side of the block. Reciprocatihg cam members 19 cooperate with the rods 18 .to move slide '16 forward against the pres- 4 sure of springs 17. After the punch has stamped a plate from thestrip and is on-its upward stroke, a reciprocating arm 20 pushes the formed plate from "the die onto an-inclined shown in dotted lines at 22 in 3. Re-

I through.

platform 21 attached to slide 16 as 1926. Serial No. 112,461.

ciprocating ca-m members 19 now descend and move slide 16 forward to bring the plate into a forwardly inclined position in theguideway 23 as indicated generally by plates ing element comprising a coil 30 and a cover 31 retaining the powdered insulating material 32. The brass tube is surrounded by a water jacket 33, water being circulated therethrough byway of pipes 34 and 35. A feed pipe 36 introduces a supply of hydrogen into the brass tube near its rear end. The felt plug 37, which closes the' rear end (if the brass-tube, has a rectangular opening therein to fit closely about the plates passing there- The conveyor delivers the plates .to a packing table.

As the plates pass throughthe alundum i tube they are heated to a temperature high enough to drive out any deleterious gases occluded in the metal, these gases then combining with the hydrogen. In passing through the brass tube the plates are cooled in an atmosphere of hydrogemthereby avoiding absorption of harmful gases during the cooling process. It 'will be obvious that the conveyor must move at just the proper speed to take care of the output of the punch press, and since the plates must be subjected'tq heating and cooling for periods'predetermined to produce the desired results, the speed of the conveyor as wellas thelength of the heating and cooling tubes must be coordinated with the speed of the punch press.

In the modified process of Fig. 1 the strip of metal 10 is first carried by the endless conveyor through the heating and cooling chambers. It then passes through rollers 11 and 12 which-attach getter materialthereto in the manner disclosed in my co-pending applicauum tube electrodes, means for feeding a tionSerial No. 108,029 filed on May 10, 1926; (Patent No.- 1,7 00,945, dated February 5, 1929.) A non-greasy fluid such as carbon tetrachloride is then dropped onto the strip from the tank 40 to remove impurities and the strip is fed to the press 13 which punches the plates from the stri Fig. 4. shows'one of the finished platesw1th getter material 39 secured thereto in the manner set forth in the co-pending application above referred to. I claim 1. In apparatusfor manufacturing vacuum tube plates, a press for punching the plates'froma strip of material, a conveyor, means for automatically discharging the plates from the press onto the conveyor without manual intervention, and heating and cooling chambers surrounding the conveyor.

onto a conveyor, and moving the conveyor through heating and cooling chambers containingareducing gas. I 1 I 8. In apparatus for manufacturing vac uum tube electrodes, a heating chamber, a

cooling chamber, means for conveying strip 2. In the process of manufacturing vacuum tube plates, the steps of forming plates, feeding the formed platesonto a conveyor, and moving the conveyor through a heating chamber containing an atmosphere of hydrogen and thence through a cooling chamber "containingan atmosphere of hydrogen.

3. In the process of manufacturing vacuum tube plates, the steps of forming the; plates on a punch press, automatically discharging the plates from the press to a con veyor, and carrying the plates 'on said conveyor through heating and cooling cham-i .bers in an atmosphere of a harmless gas, the

speed of the conveyor and the length of the chambers being coordinated with the speed of the punch press to subject the plates to heating and cooling for predetermined-pe- 'riods.

4. In apparatus for manufacturing vacuum tube electrodes, a heating chamber and 'a cooling chamber, the said chambers being directly connected to each other, means for passing a reducing fiuid through both-chambers, means for conveying material through thechambers, and means for forming electrodes.

5. In apparatus for manufacturing vacstrip of material, means forforming electrodes from the strip of material, a conveyor,

means for automatically discharging the formed electrodes from the forming means onto the conveyor and heating and cooling means for discharging the formed electrodes from the forming means onto the conveyor and sitioning them approximately perpendicu ar to the strip of raw material, and heatconv'eyor.

7.- The process of manufacturin vacuum tube electrodes, comprising forming the electrodes, feeding the formed electrodes ing' and cooling chambers surrounding the 

